


This Too Shall Pass

by paintsplatteredteardrops



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Engagement, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-27
Updated: 2012-11-27
Packaged: 2017-11-19 16:37:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/575361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintsplatteredteardrops/pseuds/paintsplatteredteardrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eleanor’s contract finally expires. They say goodbye, and Louis makes the last year up to Harry in the best way possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Too Shall Pass

It was to be released to the press on Monday. After only a month of being engaged, Louis and Eleanor got cold feet and realized they were too young to even think about marriage, especially with Eleanor’s duties at university, and Louis’s obligations to the band. They came to a mutual decision to end both the engagement and the relationship, and although they still loved each other dearly, it would be in their best interest to break it off. The whole ordeal reeked of bullshit, but Louis felt if the people were naïve enough to believe the relationship in the first place, they would accept this reasoning without so much as a second thought. 

Louis and Eleanor stood before each other, their feet shuffling awkwardly and eyes anywhere but in the other’s direction. She fiddled with the ring on her finger, turning it round as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to part ways with it. She looked up at him, her mouth twisted into a grimace. 

“It’s just so pretty”, she said, her voice full of playful, feigned anxiety. She was trying to break the awkward silence, and Louis was more appreciative of her in that moment than he ever had been.

“Yeah, well, if it’s any consolation, you get to keep the mountain of fancy clothes we bought you, so I’m not sure you’ll have enough room to miss it”. He held his palm out, snapping his fingers. “Come on now, give it here.”

She sighed and pouted sarcastically, before pulling it from her ring finger and placing it daintily in his hand. “So, this is it, yeah?”

“Yeah, this is it.” He shrugged. He didn’t want her to feel as if she had absolutely no value to him, but he wasn’t really sure what else to say.

She stared at him for a moment, her blank expression soon turning into a wistful smile. “We never were much of a convincing couple, were we?” 

He chuckled softly, nudging her on the arm. “I’m afraid that was probably my fault. You were earnest, you really were. I just always looked like I wanted to be somewhere else.” He looked away from her then, staring into the distance, his mind wandering. 

“That’s because you did”, she said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah. It wasn’t your fault, though, so don’t go beating yourself up over it”, he said, trying his best to lighten the mood.

She smiled again. She truly was a beautiful girl. Stunning, really. The two of them never really had all that much in common, and their staged dates were often a bit boring and uncomfortable, but he could understand to an extent why their relationship had received so much support. Eleanor was beautiful, and generally sweet, and he figured most girls would rather her in the shoes they so desperately wanted to fill than someone absolutely horrible. 

After a slightly awkward pause, her eyes turned pensive. “Louis…” She started, slightly hesitant. “Harry doesn’t totally hate me, does he?” She searched his face for some kind of silent answer. “He never really talked to me, and when I was around, he… kind of looked like he was picturing what my head would look like on the ground instead of my shoulders.” 

Louis exploded with laughter, her frightened expression tipping him over the edge. He clutched at his sides, before realizing she was utterly serious and actually expected a confirmation. He managed to contain himself, a few giggles escaping his lips as he adjusted his jumper. “Um, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it, love. He didn’t really like the idea of you, it had nothing to do with you yourself. If you had a boyfriend, and he had to be off gallivanting the streets with another girl pretending he doesn’t love you, wouldn’t you hate her just a little bit?”

She sighed again, but she clearly understood. “Tell him I’m sorry then, yeah?” Louis nodded. “Oh, and that I think he’s really hot.” 

Louis laughed heartily. This was the best conversation they’d ever had, and probably the only time they’d ever truly gotten along. “I’m sure any hatred he may have felt toward you will completely dissipate after that comment”, he said, reaching forward to place his hand on her shoulder.

He’d never known how to properly touch her, and now wasn’t an exception. He wasn’t sure they were close enough to end things with a hug, but she had been a part of his life for over a year, so a simple, “Bye, have a nice life”, didn’t seem appropriate either, so he decided to say fuck it, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. It was quick and awkward, with Eleanor’s hand balled into a fist against his waist. He patted her on the back, which made her chuckle, and he kissed her on the cheek when they pulled apart.

“Thank you for doing this, El. I know it wasn’t easy on you either”, he said sincerely.

She grinned. “You really don’t need to thank you. What girl wouldn’t want to spend a year on a famous singer’s arm, wearing expensive jackets and handbags and being flown all over the world? It was a dream, really”. She laughed, bright, giddy, and warm, and Louis laughed with her, sensing that she was only half-joking. “So, what are you going to do now?” She asked when their laughter seized.

Louis turned his head and stared into the distance, his mind filling with images of full, red lips, soft brown curls, and the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen. 

“What I want.”   
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Louis probably broke several laws while on his way back to he and Harry’s shared home, driving several miles above the speed limit and cutting numerous people off. He resisted the urge to yell, “I’m Louis fucking Tomlinson!”, to the road-ragers who were screaming expletives at him for his reckless driving, but didn’t want the story to possibly leak into the papers and he be considered a twat. Enough people already thought that of him already, and he didn’t need more reasons for people to hate him.

When he arrived, he practically made a beeline for the door, opening it with uncontained ferocity. The sound it made as it closed would undoubtedly wake Harry up, if he had been sleeping, but Louis didn’t care. He wanted him awake, needed him awake. All he wanted right now was to look into Harry’s beautiful eyes and hold him and tell him he’s the only thing he’s ever wanted. His thoughts during the ride home were reckless, scattered, and nonsensical, but he ran with them, unable to think of anything else.

He ran up the stairs and burst through the door of their room, finding Harry curled up on their bed, listening to music through his earbuds. His hair was unkempt and looked as if he’d just stuck his fingers in electrical sockets, and his skin had been breaking out recently due to the stress of the engagement and the impending album release, but Louis swore he’d never seen a more beautiful sight. He stood before Harry, his eyes wild, breath releasing itself in uneven pants, and Harry stared at him as if he had a bloody nose.

He pulled his earbuds out and leaned forward. “Lou, are you all right?” He asked, his voice concerned.

Louis moved forward and grabbed his arm, knocking the iPad from his lap and pulling him off the bed. He let go of his hands and moved them to grasp Harry’s face, lifting himself on his toes to kiss Harry, who made a muffled sound of surprise, but soon sighed into Louis’s mouth and wrapped his arms around his waist. They stood like that for a while, just kissing each other and absorbing the other’s warmth, until Harry detached their lips and regarded him thoughtfully.

“What’s going on, babe?” He asked, brushing Louis’s feathered hair out of his eyes.

“I love you so much, do you know that?” He said, somewhat intensely.

Harry looked slightly taken aback. Although it wasn’t the first time Louis had said he loved him, Louis was never one to express his emotion in words. He preferred to show people his feelings, rather than say them out right. For some reason, it had always made him uncomfortable to be vulnerable with people, even Harry, and though he had said the words several times, he had never said them with such passion and conviction.

“Of course I do. I love you too”, he whispered as he pulled Louis into his arms. He could feel tears forming beneath his eyelashes, confused as to where this sudden outburst of emotion had come from, but not exactly unwelcoming of it. He held him tightly against his chest, running his fingers through his soft hair and pressing his lips against his forehead. “More than anything”, he added belatedly, causing Louis to tighten his grip on his shirt.

“Here, sit down”, Louis said softly as they broke apart. He ushered him down on the bedspread, kneeling before him and taking his hands in his. 

Harry’s heart began to race, still no certainty in his mind of what was happening or why. He swallowed thickly, muttering a low, “Okay”, before looking Louis in the eye and raising his eyebrows in expectation. 

Louis let out a long, deep breath, his own heart pounding against his ribcage as he sorted out exactly what he wanted to say in his mind. He knew he’d never been the most open boyfriend in the world, and that he occasionally shut Harry out. He knew how much it hurt him, and Harry of all people didn’t deserve to get hurt. He wanted to make it up to him, and now felt like the best time to do it. 

“Harry”, he began, his voice cracking slightly. He cleared his throat and continued, more confidently this time. “I’m not really… the easiest person to read, a lot of the time. Actually most of the time. I can be kind of closed off, and, a bit of a shit.” Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Louis shushed him with a finger to his lips. “Please, Harry, don’t say anything, okay? You need to hear this.” Harry nodded compliantly, before shifting on the bed and leaning forward with a studious expression, his chin rested on his fist. Even when he was concerned, he was completely adorable. Louis’s heart filled with adoration for the boy and he had to use all his self-control not to just shut up and kiss the life out of him. 

He cleared his throat once again. “You… sometimes I don’t think you realize how amazing you are. We’ve been together for two years and half that time I’ve had to go around with a fake girlfriend, pretending we were just friends, and… most people would just, like, give up and leave. Who wants to have to deal with that? But you, you never gave up. You were always waiting for me, no matter how late I stayed out, even when I had to kiss her in front of the cameras. You still smiled at me. You still smiled at me like you’d never want to look at anything else. I never got to tell you how much that means to me. How much you mean to me.” He squeezed Harry’s hands even tighter. “You are the single best thing that has ever happened to me, even if we’d never made it past the X-Factor and never got to make an album, I’d still be just as happy, because I’d have you. You make me feel like I can be a better person.”

His voice was becoming strained as tears threatened to fall from his eyes, and Harry was no better off. They fell freely, streaming down his face as his beautiful lips stretched to reveal his glowingly white teeth, and Louis’s chest began to ache. Harry was an open book. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and he hid nothing from anyone. Louis wished he could be like that. He released Harry’s hands and cupped his face in his hands, brushing away the tears with his thumbs.

“You’re so beautiful, Harry”, he said, almost whispered. “I don’t ever want to lose you. I want you around me always, so that’s why…” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, circular object encrusted in beautiful diamonds, and adjusted his position so he was supporting himself on just one knee. 

Harry almost hyperventilated when he saw the glow of the diamonds slowly approaching his line of vision. “Lou…” He whispered, his voice barely audible. 

“I want to marry you, Harry”, he said, so earnestly Harry thought his heart may explode. “One day, when all this fame business is done with, and we have nobody to answer to anymore but ourselves, and when everyone in the country finally thinks it’s okay… I want to be able to call myself your husband. I hope that’s okay with you.” He looked into Harry’s eyes, hopeful and pleading.

Harry grabbed Louis’s face and kissed him hard, his lips tasting of water and salt, before resting his forehead against his. His breath was ragged and hoarse. “What universe do you live in where the answer would be no?” He whispered, laughing breathlessly as Louis beamed at him.

Louis took Harry’s hand and slid the ring on his middle finger. “You may not be allowed to wear it out, but you’re sure as fuck wearing it everywhere else”, he said, echoing Harry’s wheezy laugh. 

They kissed again, Harry pulling Louis on top of him and shifting their bodies until his head lay against the pillow. Louis lifted Harry’s leg to rest against his hip, their lips never leaving each other’s. When air became decidedly sparse and increasingly necessary, Louis pulled away and stared down at the boy who was now his fiancé, and his eyes sparkled with love and happiness. 

“I love you”, he said, his voice completely certain.

“I love you too”, Harry replied, grinning and pulling Louis back down by the neck.

They spent the next few hours in a tangle of limbs, laughing and kissing and caressing each other’s skin and hair, but their clothes never left their bodies. They didn’t need sex, not then. All they needed was each other.

It was all they’d ever need.

**Author's Note:**

> Holy fucking GOD, that was fluffy. I don’t know what came over me. I didn't make Eleanor a total ratchet bitch because I figured that'd be way too easy, and I don't actually hate the girl. As for why Louis didn’t tell Harry him and Eleanor were finally over, I figured Harry would probably guess that given the ring, and Louis didn’t really want to ruin the moment and mention her. Yeah, that’s it, it’s canon. I wrote this back when the engagement rumours were abound, I posted it on my Tumblr. My URL is louisandharrystolemysoul. I don't write much fan-fic, so I hope this was half-decent!


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